“Good,” he said, so very softly. “Look at how far we’ve come. It wasn’t that long ago I’d have you going all to pieces on me just for a little tie-up. But you’ve learned I can be good to you, haven’t you?”

“Yes, sir,” she breathed.

“And you’ve learned I don’t have to be, too.”

The answering shiver, nervous and aroused and eager, jerked through the leather strap of the belt tied at her throat. “Yes, sir.” Her voice was barely audible.

Sometimes it feels like he runs the world. In a breath he can win your heart or break your will. No matter how painfully sexy and honest and right he might seem, Heather has never let herself forget how dangerous he really is.

But against all her better judgement, against a thousand repeated promises, she’s starting to let herself fall in love.

Troy never meant things to go this far. He never meant to let anyone get hurt, but there’s something about Heather that won’t allow him to let go. He knows he’s either the man she dreams about or the man she fears. He’d give anything to be able to choose which one he’ll be, but some days it feels like that choice has never been his.

Reader Advisory: This series is intended for mature audiences only and features intensely erotic situations, themes of dominance and submission, forced exhibition, discipline, bondage, and rough sex. All characters are 18 or older.

Excerpt:

She entered with small steps, tentative and beautiful. When wasn’t she beautiful?

She was wearing his favorite dress. A peace offering. It was a light green, dashed with white at the thigh and cut low, wispy and light. It suited her perfectly. Her beauty was marred only by the anxious expression on her face. It made his heart break, seeing her like that. He never wanted her to be anxious again. Why did she have to push the way she did, only making problems where there hadn’t been any?

“Hey,” she said.

“It’s good to see you,” he said. “You look very nice this evening.”

A little smile broke through her serious expression. “Thanks.”

“I’m not angry,” he said. “I’m done with that. I should have been done with that a long time ago.”

She seemed to relax a little. “I’m sorry, too. I never meant to upset you. If I’d known … I mean, I never should have brought it up in the first place. Let’s forget it.”

Troy appreciated the sentiment, but he shook his head. “We’re not really going to forget it, are we?”

She tilted her head ruefully. “No, probably not.”

He sighed. “I didn’t think so.” He offered her the glass of wine and led her out onto the covered balcony. The rain fell with a dull rushing sound on the roof and sides of the building. The air had a damp taste to it.

She was quiet, waiting for him to speak.

“I always love this city in the rain,” he said. “Isn’t that strange? I love the sound of it falling, the smell of wet pavement. It’s at its best in the rain. The sky is dark and threatening, but the city’s still full of light and warmth, beneath all that concrete, shining out through the glass.”

“It can be really beautiful,” Heather agreed.

“Comforting, maybe,” Troy said. “I remember … well, I wasn’t always on this side of it, looking out. I remember what it was like to be wet and cold, on a night like this. It’s not something you forget.”